Partnership for Sustainable Communities
Brownfields Pilots - National City, California
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Department
of Transportation (DOT) are working together under the Partnership for Sustainable Communities to ensure that federal
investments, policies and actions support development that is more efficient and sustainable. This partnership is based
on "liability principles" that guide inter-agency collaboration and support the integration of: safe, reliable and economical
transportation; affordable, energy-efficient housing; and sustainable reuse of idle or underutilized land. Pilot communities
were selected by EPA's Brownfields Program with input from HUD and DOT. Pilots receive technical assistance and support
from EPA, HUD and DOT. The three agencies are working with the Pilot communities to build on past investments, as well as
identify opportunities to link housing, transit and brownfields, and coordinate sustainability resources.
Project History
The Westside Affordable Housing Transit-Oriented
Development (TOD) in National City, California, is the
direct result of five years of community involvement by
residents of the Westside Neighborhood; it is intended to
be the catalyst for overall neighborhood change through
the Westside Specific Plan (the city's plan for the area).
In 2004, a series of community workshops was held
in which hundreds of residents and business owners
discussed priorities for reinventing the neighborhood.
Of top importance was the elimination of toxic hazards
believed to be the cause of high asthma rates. The
second priority was the community's desire to reclaim
the neighborhood for residential uses, especially
affordable housing for families. In fall 2008, the city held
a community design workshop that was attended by
more than 80 residents and business owners. As project
predevelopment for the Westside Affordable TOD is
now underway, the development team hosts community
meetings and attends the Westside Neighborhood
Council to facilitate open communication about the
project.
The Pilot focuses on a 14-acre, city owned public
works site - the proposed site of the $69 million TOD
project. The project will consist of 201 affordable
housing units located immediately adjacent to the
existing 24th Street Trolley Station (light rail serving
metropolitan San Diego). The site is contaminated with
hazardous materials (metals, benzene and hydraulic
fluid), as identified during an ongoing EPA Brownfields
Assessment grant and through two Targeted Site
Investigations performed by the California Department
of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). DTSC will oversee
required remediation of the site for redevelopment.
Pilot Technical Assistance Activities
Develop recommendations on green remediation
techniques, habitat restoration and open space analysis
Host community workshop to engage the community
and promote community participation and input
Develop recommendations for developing a
formula to rank sites with incompatible industrial uses
for amortization
Pilot Activities
National City is seeking to redevelop the 14-acre
site in a sustainable manner by incorporating green
remediation components into a site design that
promotes energy efficiency, stormwater and flood
control management, walking and park trails, and
reduced dependence on fossil fuels. The city is also
addressing the toxic hazards believed to be contributing
to the high asthma rates in the neighborhood by
preparing an amortization plan to relocate and/or close
highly polluting industrial uses that are not compatible
with the Westside Specific Plan.
Through the Pilot, the technical assistance team
conducted a community workshop on November
4, 2010, to educate and inform the community on
green remediation on brownfield sites. The workshop
addressed the 14-acre site and provided information
on brownfields redevelopment in a broader context to
educate the community on the benefits of sustainably
cleaning up and reusing brownfields. During the
workshop, participants engaged in an interactive
exercise to obtain input on the preferred open space
reuse (e.g., community garden, active recreational
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space) of the former gas station portion of the 14-acre
site. The final plan to redevelop the 14-acre site as a
community garden or active recreational space is being
informed by the November 2010 community workshop
and will be further shaped by the ongoing Community
Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) process.
Input from the community workshop, site visit and
existing conceptual plan fed into a recommendations
report that addresses open space reuse on the former
gas station; green remediation and habitat restoration
approaches for the 14-acre development; and the
broader development context. The recommendations
focused on the economic, social and environmental
impacts of cleanup and remedial action. The technical
assistance team will also provide recommendations
for developing a formula to rank sites for amortization,
beginning with the most polluting and underutilized
uses.
Outcomes
The expected outcomes from this Pilot include:
• Using National City's former public works property
for affordable housing as a test of HUD's new
policy for building affordable housing on former
brownfield sites.
• Identifying strategies for National City and other
similar communities to transition from their
industrial pasts, identify new commercial activities,
and relocate or reduce the impacts of incompatible
industrial uses, located in primarily residential
areas.
• Documenting barriers and opportunities for
federal agency cooperation in the restoration
and expansion of urban waterways through the
integration of the Paradise Creek habitat area into
the site and improving connectivity of the former
public works property into the neighborhood.
• Producing a report summarizing recommendations
for revitalizing the 14-acre former gas station
portion of the larger Westside Affordable Housing
TOD project as open space or natural habitat.
• Producing a report summarizing recommendations
for amortizing incompatible industrial uses near the
development site.
Conceptual plan for the Westside Affordable Housing TOD project
Major Technical Assistance Partners
Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Transportation
City of National City, California
The expected completion date for the National City
Pilot is March 2011. For more information on this Pilot,
please contact Sara Russell at (415) 972-3218 or
mssell.sara ©epa.gov.
United State;
Environmenti
i Agency
Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fact Sheet - National City, CA • January 2011 • EPA-560-F-11-012
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